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Anthony Gap crash victim was popular librarian at Chaparral High School, officials say

By Diana Alba Soular / dalba@lcsun-news.com

Posted:
04/08/2013 03:24:10 PM MDT

LAS CRUCES — A woman who died in a crash Friday on N.M. Highway 404 was remembered Monday as a well-liked head librarian for the Gadsden Independent School District, school officials said Monday.

Martha "Marty" Ojala Mays, 61, of El Paso was chief librarian for the 14,000-student district and the main librarian for Chaparral High School, officials confirmed.

School administrators announced the sad news Monday to the student body and had extra personnel available to visit with grieving students, Chaparral High Principal Mark Rupcich said.

"We had help from several schools in sending their counselors here," he said in a phone interview. "We were very well-prepared for any situation, in regards to students being upset."

Mays had been with the district for a number of years and had been head librarian of the high school for four years, Rupcich said. Her presence and her talent will be greatly missed, he said.

"She was extremely popular among our students and faculty," he said. "She was all about children. She always had kids in her heart."

Mays, who headed the high school's literacy team, took special care to help struggling students improve their reading skill, Rupcich said.

Mariaelena Johnson, a former Chaparral resident who now lives in Las Cruces, said she worked for about two years ago as a substitute teacher at Chaparral High School, where she got to know Mays. Johnson said she sometimes helped Mays to put away books and straighten shelves.

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Johnson said she was "devastated" upon learning of Mays' death Monday.

"She loved having students come into her library; it was a sanctuary for many, including myself," She said. "I will miss her laugh, her smile and her incredible passion for literature and her students."

An El Paso Times obituary for Mays indicated that she had a teaching certification from the College of the Southwest and a master's degree in education from Walden University. Her Christian faith and family were important parts of her life, and she liked reading, gardening and crossword puzzles.

Dangerous route

Mays' death was at least the second fatality on N.M. 404, also known as the Anthony Gap, impacting the school. Late last fall, the grandfather of a student, who was riding on the passenger's side of a vehicle, was killed in a crash there, Rupcich said.

In light of the recent fatal crash, some people at the school are considering launching a campaign to get support for widening the route to four driving lanes, Rupcich said. Plenty of faculty and staff from Las Cruces commute daily on the route to reach not only the high school, but Chaparral Middle School, Desert Trail Elementary, Sunrise Elementary and Chaparral Middle School, he said.

"We just feel that that particular road, the Gap, is a very dangerous road," he said.

The road has a passing lane in some stretches, but narrows in other places.

Schools in Chaparral serve both Doña Ana County and Otero County residents because the community straddles the county boundary.

Late morning Friday, a man police identified as Matthew Eychner, 45, of Chaparral, N.M., was driving with his two sons, ages 10 and 12, in a four-door maroon Chevy sedan when he crossed the center line and smashed into the Toyota Corolla driven by Mays.

Mays died at the scene, located near mile marker 6.

Eychner told police he blacked out while he was driving and crossed the median, according to the news release. Drugs or alcohol are not suspected of being a contributing factor of this crash, the release states.

Service planned

A service for Mays is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at All Saints Episcopal Church, 3500 McRae Blvd. in El Paso, according to the El Paso Times obituary.

Mays is survived by four siblings, three daughters and four granddaughters.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Books for Kids Foundation, according to the obituary.

Diana Alba Soular can be reached at (575) 541-5443; follow her on Twitter @AlbaSoular